Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Fredrik Backman is one of the well known novelists from Sweden, who likes to write his novels based on the literature 7 fiction genre. He has written a number of bestselling books in his writing career. In addition to being a writer, author Fredrik is also a popular blogger as well as a columnist. Some of the most famous books written by him include A Man Called Ove, Britt Marie Was Here, as well as a few others. All his standalone novels have been included in the list of bestsellers in Sweden. Apart from there, the books have also been released all across the world in more than 25 foreign languages. Author Fredrik was born on June2, 1981, in Stockholm, Sweden. He was brought up in the locality in Helsingborg. Following the completion of his graduation, he began writing for a few local magazines including the Moore Magazine and Helsingborgs Dagblad. As a novelist, Fredrik made his debut in the year 2012. He wrote his first novel titled ‘A Man Called Ove’ and published it in the same year. The book’s success helped author Fredrik bring a lot of name and fame in a short span of time. Its success also enabled it to be adapted into a movie. The movie was premiered in the 2015 with the same name. Author Fredrik continues to write his books from his home in Sweden, where he lives along with his lovely wife named Neda Shafti Backman.

One of the initial books written by Fredrik Backman is titled as ‘Britt-Marie Was Here’. This book was written by author Fredrik in collaboration with author Henning Koch, who helped to translate it from Swedish to English. The book was released by the Atria Books publication in the year 2016. According to author Fredrik, the story of this book is a hilarious and heartwarming one which revolves around a reluctant outsider in a small village. She helps to bring about a complete transformation of the village. The woman is shown to have the knack of finding second chances and love in the places which seem highly unlikely. At the beginning of the book, Britt-Marie is introduced as a woman who does not like to have things messy around her. She likes to be highly punctual and work according to her plans. Usually, Britt-Marie’s day begins at 6 in the morning. She believes that the ones who wake up later are nothing but lunatics. Britt-Marie also likes to eat her dinner at the exact time. Britt-Marie like to give her suggestions to people about the things that she feels are right. She is not a passive-aggressive woman. But sometimes, people tend to misinterpret her sincere suggestions as more of criticisms, which is not at all her intention in the first place. She is around 63 years old and has experienced enough things in her life. Britt-Marie decides to walk out of her loveless marriage after sincerely carrying it forward for 40 years. She goes on to settle in a small village called Borg, and also finds a job there. When she arrives in the village, Britt-Marie finds that it is a derelict and devastated town, suffering from financial crisis. Later, she comes to know that the village is full of noisy children and muddy floors. Even her roommate appears to be more like a rat.

Britt-Marie thinks that it would be very difficult for her to adjust into this new messy world. The citizens of Borg have seen everything known to them crumble around. Now, the only thing that they are left with is their love for the game of soccer. Britt-Marie absolutely loathes about it. A time comes when the young children of Borg become desperate for their team’s coach. Eventually, they set their eyes on Britt-Marie. Even though she appears to be the least favorite candidate for the job, they is no other option left with them. Also, their need is genuine and urgent. What follows next is a beautiful, but unlikely partnership. As Britt-Marie takes up her new role as a mentor to the lost young children of the village reluctantly, she finds herself getting closer in becoming a vital part of the Borg’s community. To add to her surprise, she comes to know that a local policeman and friend named Sven has romantic desires for her. In the end, Britt-Marie thinks whether she will be able to find a place where she actually belongs, in this new world full f misfits and oddballs? The readers all over the world enjoyed reading the book a lot. They even praised author Fredrik for his excellent work in the development of Britt-Marie’s character. He has very well described a novel full of love and second chances. Fredrik has also shown that people tend to make unexpected friendships that teach them who they really are, as well as the things that they are able to do.

Another successful book written by author Fredrik Backman is titled as ‘My Grandmother Asked to Tell You She’s Sorry’. This novel was released by the Atria Books in the year 2015. The story of this book revolves around a young girl who goes on a beautiful journey by following the letters left behind her dead grandmother. With the help of the letters, the young girl brings to life the fairy tales from the life of her grandmother. The opening sequence of the book shows Elsa as a 7 year old girl. She is very much different from the other kids and is more attached to her grandmother. Elsa’s grandmother is around 77 years old. She appears to be a crazy woman, who always stands on her balcony and fires at the people who talk about Jesus. But, she is the only friend that Elsa has in her life. During the night time, Elsa likes to hear stories from her. Usually, her grandmother tells her fantasy stories about the fairies and places where people are not required to be normal. Elsa enjoys listening to such stories from her grandmother. After the death of her grandmother, Elsa discovers a series of letters left behind by her in which she has apologized to each and every person who she feels have been wronged by her. With this, the greatest adventure in the life of Elsa begins. As Elsa goes on to follow the interesting letters, she is taken to places full of monsters, drunks, attack dogs, as well as old people. However, these events help Elsa experience the fairy tales in real life. She goes on to get even closer to her grandmother and her love and respect for her increases multiple folds.

With the latest book in the Gray Man series by Mark Greaney coming out soon, we wanted to make the very first book in the series our book of the month.

Greaney is an incredible author and if you love the "lone badass" type of books then you will LOVE the Court "Gray Man" Gentry series. Read more about it.

Featured Series

It might seem like overkill, but we're giving The Gray Man series our featured series of the month.

Honestly this is such a great series and we feel not enough people read it so we want to push it. Read more about The Gray Man series and seriously if you haven't read it - start! Amazing thrillers.

Featured Author

Mark Greaney is an incredibly talented author. Not only does he write the Gray Man series however he also writes various Jack Ryan novels. Many feel he is the best writer of them and he truly is a great author. We're happy to award our author of the month to Mark Greaney.

Did You Know…

Arthur Conan Doyle pursued a medical degree at the University of Edinburgh instead of going into the arts much to the surprise of his family. At med school, Doyle met his mentor, Professor Dr. Joseph Bell, whose keen powers of observation would later inspire Doyle to create his famed fictional detective character, Sherlock Holmes. At the University of Edinburgh, Doyle met classmates and future fellow authors James Barrie and Robert Louis Stevenson. Talented class!